The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-11-04
FRENCH SPECIALISTS OBSERVATIONS
The Mysteries Of Right and Left-Left-
handed People-Criminals.

banded People-triminals.
Some French specialists have recently
been making observations with a view 10
calculating some mysteries in this matter
# right and left O,e Of them, in order
TO determine whether 10 is true that men
are born with the right side more deyel
0ped than the left, has weighed with
every precaution 10 render bis experiments
accurate, the limbs of eleven infants of
less than years ~ age-in The disseCting
room Of course. lie measured the bones
Of the arms and limbs, bur in neither in
stance did he find much ference though
/ the variations We're sufficient 10 lead him
/ 20 the conclusion that though right and
/ le't depend partially 0n herodity, it is
even more directly attributable 20 educa-
/ tiOn-that is. 10 The iact that in regard 90
The two hands ihe child IL never per-
mitted nor is the adult, for that matter,
10 use them Unfortunately
Another French specialist has examined
the teeth with results which he considers
more convincing. In sixty-four subjects,
taken irdiscrIminately, he found that
forty-one had defects Of various kinds on
the left side and only twenty-five defects
or anomalies on the right This was Ow-
ing 10 the general enfeeblement of the left
at The expense of the opposite side, which
is more favored by exercise, and possibly
by the freer circulation of the blood. The
left side Of the jaw is weaker and less
healthy IL was observed by the same
specialist that I'm the case Of left handed
persons the defects were mostly on the
right Left handed persons are rare i'm all
countries though the number might be
increased by education Delaunay,
French author. counts one for every forty
Iambroso, an Italian writer found among
GIL workingmen twenty-seven who were
left handed and "a little more than per
cent. who were ambideXterOus Among
100 Bersagheri, that is soldiers of the
mountain regiments. he found D per cent
ambidexters, and on another occasion
thirteen left handed and one ambidexter
among 238 workmen
Another observer found among the chill
dren Of a boarding school 10 per cent. left
handed and - per cent using both hands
A person born LETT handed can be taught
10 use his right hand with considerable
skill though he is always ready 10 resort
TO the left when he is In danger, because
10 is the stronger Left handed persons.
that is, those born so, are said by some
PSYCHOLOGISTS 20 be degenerated and some
sort OF mental inferiority or eccentricity
accompanies the defect, as IS usually the
case with persons afflicted with strabis-
mus. harelip prOgnathism on other physi-
cal peculiarlties IN the nature OF defOrmi-
ty. Il has been remarked that there is q
considerable per cent OF left handed
among the insane, and two Italian ply
sicians found among ninety insane pa
tents seventy-thfee whose sensibllity
was greater on the left side than on
the right The criminal instinct seems
stronger among left handed than among
right handed people Dr. Mario, an
Italian found in given number Of male
criminals nearly II per cent. left handed
and % per cent. among the female delin-
quents-that is TO say, for the men three
times the proportion found among honest
people and for female criminals four
times the proportion. No one need then
desire To- be born left handed. since this
class is handicapped with either physical
or mental disease. demoralizing if not
serious This need not prevent children
born right handed from being taught the
use Of the left. that they may use either
according to necessity. That this can be-
done is shown by The rapidly with which
persons who have lost the right hand or
arm acQurs the adrois use of the other
i may boz said that as regards the use of
the right hand and tine ltlt man is tae
suhiec, of hcredity without being ab-0
luiciy it- lave. san Francisco Chronicle